Cargill, the largest privately-held company in the U.S. according to Forbes, is laying off 5% of its global workforce.
The Minnesota-based ag commodities trader attributed the change as part of a “long-term strategy” the company worked on earlier this year.
“As we look to the future, we have laid out a clear plan to evolve and strengthen our portfolio to take advantage of compelling trends in front of us, maximize our competitiveness, and, above all, continue to deliver for our customers,” a spokesman with the company emailed the CBJ. “To strengthen Cargill’s impact, we must realign our talent and resources to align with our strategy. Unfortunately, that means reducing our global workforce by approximately 5 percent. This difficult decision was not made lightly. We will lean on our core value of putting people first as we support our colleagues during this transition.”
Cargill, a global agribusiness powerhouse with a workforce exceeding 160,000 across 70 countries, has been a fixture in Cedar Rapids since 1968. The company operates three manufacturing plants in the city, employing 600 full-time workers and 200 contractors as of 2019.
As speculation swirls about potential layoffs, the company spokesman declined to identify which locations might face cuts. For now, no layoff notices have been filed for Cargill’s Cedar Rapids operations, according to Iowa Workforce Development’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) website.
In October, workers at Cargill’s southeast Cedar Rapids corn milling plant went on strike after the company’s three-year contract with the union expired at midnight Sept. 30 without a new contract in place, citing “wages and respect” as two key grievances against management. Union leaders and representatives from the company reached an agreement Oct. 31.
According to Forbes, Cargill reported $177 billion in revenue for 2023 but saw a 10% decline in fiscal year 2024.
At the time of publication, a spokesman for Cargill’s Cedar Rapids operations could not be reached for comment.
